Laureus World Sports Awards
RECORD FOURTH OLYMPIC GOLD MAKES JANICA KOSTELIC LATE CONTENDER FOR LAUREUS SPORTSWOMAN AWARD

· Unstoppable Annika Sorenstam hoping for her second Laureus statuette
· Isinbayeva leads strong athletics challenge after smashing five metre barrier
· Grand Slam breakthrough for Clijsters; Venus Williams wins third Wimbledon
· Qualifying period ends after 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin
· Laureus World Sports Awards to be held in Barcelona, May 20-22

LONDON, February 20, 2006 - Croatian skier Janica Kostelic became the first woman to win four Olympic Alpine gold medals after her victory in the women's combined event in Sestrière, Italy. Kostelic, 24, won the downhill stage of the competition to overtake Austria's Marlies Schild who had led after the slalom.

Kostelic, 24, was forced to pull out of the women’s downhill event earlier because of a high pulse rate, but she bounced back in style for gold in the combined, an achievement which makes her a late contender to be nominated for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award.

Kostelic received a double nomination in 2003 for the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year and Laureus World Comeback of the Year Awards following the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games when she won gold medals in the giant slalom, slalom and combined events, as well as a silver medal in the super-G.

Meanwhile Annika Sorenstam, the world’s leading women’s golfer, began 2006 as she finished 2005, in unstoppable form on the golf course. Partnering her fellow countrywoman Liselotte Neumann, she secured a three-stroke victory for Sweden in January at the Women's World Cup of Golf at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, South Africa.

Sorenstam’s record in 2005 was stunning. She won ten of the 20 tournaments she entered, including two major championships – the Kraft Nabisco and the McDonald’s LPGA – her eighth and ninth majors. She also won the Player of the Year Award for a record eighth time, she became the first woman to pass US$18 million prize money. To complete her golden year she won her own tournament, the Scandinavian TPC at Barsebäck in Sweden.

Sorenstam is certain to be a strong contender to claim her second Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award when the winners are announced in Barcelona in May. The Laureus World Sports Awards, which recognise sporting achievement during the period February 1, 2005 to February 28, 2006, are recognised as the premier honours on the international sporting calendar. The final qualifying date this year is one month later than usual to include the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

Opposing Sorenstam and Kostelic will be six women who made the headlines in the World Athletics Championships, including Russia’s supreme pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, who, in 2005, became the first woman to break the five metres barrier and also won the World Championship gold medal in Helsinki. It has been a brilliant two years for Isinbayeva, who in 2004 won the Olympic gold medal in Athens with a then world record of 4.91 metres. She has now been elected Female Athlete of the Year twice by the IAAF and is rapidly earning the reputation of being the best female pole vaulter in history.

Other Helsinki contenders include Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba, the first woman to win the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres double, Sweden’s Carolina Kluft, who became the first woman to defend the heptathlon title, Britain’s Paula Radcliffe, who won the women’s marathon gold, American Lauryn Williams, who won the 100 metres gold at the age of 21, and Dorcus Inzikuru, who collected Uganda’s first ever global title when she won the 3000 metres steeplechase gold.

Russia’s triple jumper Tatyana Lebedeva missed the World Championships due to injury, but she became the sole winner of the IAAF Golden League jackpot of US$1 million awarded to athletes who win their event at each of six designated European summer meets.

The four tennis Grand Slam titles in the qualifying year were shared out among Kim Clijsters (US Open), Justine Henin-Hardenne (French Open), Venus Williams, who won her third Wimbledon title, and Amelie Mauresmo (Australian Open).

Clijsters, 22, was probably the most impressive performer of the year. She won the US Open in September, her first ever Grand Slam, after missing twelve months with a career-threatening wrist injury. Her victory over Mary Pierce in the final at Flushing Meadows was the climax of a remarkable 2005 when she won eight other tournaments in Indian Wells, Miami, Eastbourne, Stanford, Los Angeles, Toronto, Luxembourg and Hasselt in Belgium.

On the racetrack 23-year-old American Danica Patrick became an overnight sensation when, in her first year in the Indy Racing League, she became the first female driver to lead the Indianapolis 500. In all she led for 19 laps, eventually finishing fourth, the highest ever finish by a woman driver. She eventually finished 12th in the Indy Racing League and was named Rookie of The Year, appearing on the front cover of Sports Illustrated.

While not hitting the heights of Annika Sorenstam, 19-year-old Paula Creamer made a major impact on golf. In May she won the Sybase Classic at 18 years 9 months and 17 days, making her the second-youngest first time winner of an LPGA tournament and in July she won the prestigious Evian Masters in France, becoming the youngest and quickest player to reach US$1 million in LPGA career earnings. Korea’s Jeong Jang won the Women’s British Open despite never winning in six years as a professional.

Switzerland’s Natascha Badmann proved herself to be one of the most formidable competitors in sport when she won the world's most prestigious ultimate triathlon, the Ironman World Championship, in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii for an unprecedented sixth time. The 38-year-old Swiss once again demonstrated her dominance in the event, which she also won in 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004. The Ironman Triathlon involves a rough water swim of 3.8km (2.4 miles), a 179km (112 mile) cycle race and a 41.9km (26.2) mile run which tests the limits of the world’s top endurance athletes.

In a good year for Swiss sportswomen, cyclist Karin Thurig retained her time trial World Championship title, beating Spanish rider and home favourite Joane Somarriba by 5.8 secs over the 21.9 km course in Madrid. Thurig, the 2004 Olympic bronze medal winner, rated her victory more satisfying than in Bardolino, Italy, twelve months earlier because the technically more demanding course was less to her liking.

There is a two-part voting process to find the winners of the Laureus World Sports Awards. Firstly, a Selection Panel of the world’s leading sports editors, writers and broadcasters from over 80 countries votes to create a shortlist of six nominations in five categories – Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year, Laureus World Team of the Year, Laureus World Newcomer of the Year and Laureus World Comeback of the Year.

The members of the Laureus World Sports Academy then vote by secret ballot to select the Award winners. The Laureus Academy is the ultimate sports jury, made up of 42 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all time, who have made an outstanding contribution to world sport.

The Laureus Academy members also vote for the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability and the Laureus World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year, the nominations for which are made by specialist panels. The winners of all these seven categories, plus several special Awards, will be revealed during a televised Awards Ceremony to be staged in Barcelona on the evening of May 22, 2006.

Last year's Awards Ceremony, in the presence of His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain, was attended by members of the Laureus Academy and Hollywood stars Jackie Chan, Morgan Freeman, Teri Hatcher and Marcia Gay Harden. Among the award winners present were Roger Federer, Kelly Holmes and Greece football coach Otto Rehhagel.

Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, is a city with an enormous sporting tradition which has staged the most important sports events. The immensely successful 1992 Olympic Games gave a new impulse to sport in the city. Sport is a part of everyday life in Barcelona and during the past few years the number of high-level international championships staged in the city has multiplied. Therefore it is no surprise that Barcelona was chosen to host the Laureus World Sports Awards in 2006.

Barcelona is a Mediterranean and metropolitan city with the most modern facilities. Its unique architecture, artistic ambience and many tourist attractions have made Barcelona one of the most visited cities in the world. A business and leisure city, it is the ideal place to organise such an important moment of the sporting year - the Laureus Awards Ceremony.

To apply for accreditation for the 2006 Laureus World Sports Awards, please log on to www.laureus.com/accreditation or contact Shelly Samuel on accreditation@laureus.com

For further information please contact:

Karen Dillon
Laureus International Media Office
Tel: +44 (0)20 7514 2749
Fax: +44 (0)20 7514 2782
Email: media.affairs@laureus.com
Photo Archive: www.laureusarchive.com
Website: www.laureus.com

For photos of Laureus events please visit www.laureusarchive.com
NB: Information correct at time of going to press

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International Media Affairs
Laureus World Sports Awards

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